The Guilty Pleasure ofSonic Bell-BottomsBY PAUL GILBERTPaul Gilbert purposefully began playing guitarat age 9, formed the guitar-driven bands RacerX and Mr. Big, and then accidentally had a No.1 hit with an acoustic song called “To Be withYou.” Paul began teaching at GIT at the age of18, has released countless albums and guitarinstructional DVDs, and will be remembered as“the guy who got the drill stuck in his hair.” Formore information, visit paulgilbert.com

CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:

• Create blazing pentatonic licks
that shun the disco era.

• Learn how to add the 9th to a
pentatonic scale.

• Outline the sound of a chord
without ever hitting the root.

Click here to hearsound clips ofthese examples

It was 1979. I was 12 years old, and Van
Halen II was my favorite album. This
amazing record did not contain any disco
music, but the photos on the inner sleeve
still showed the influence of disco fashion.
Let’s just say that a stripy pair of bell-bottoms is still a pair of bell-bottoms.

Musically, this record—and it’s legendary predecessor Van Halen I—set in
motion a trend of guitar playing that, even
several decades later, I am only just recovering from. Eddie Van Halen’s playing,
tone, and attitude changed the standards
and expectations of what a rock guitarist
should be and should sound like. Almost
overnight, the classic guitar phrases of the
’60s and early ’70s were deemed unhip.
This revolution of guitar style engulfed me.
I developed a sharp intuition for which
guitar phrases and sounds were passé and
which were cool and cutting-edge.

Decades passed, and at some point itoccurred to me to revisit some of thoselost licks of the ’70s. It was very much likelooking at a pair of bell-bottom pants andthinking, “You know, those are actuallypretty cool.”I want to begin our trip back in timeand fashion with the chunky, picked,pentatonic lick in Fig. 1. I’ve heard someversion of this phrase in songs by MollyHatchet, Kiss, Scorpions, and Triumph.I feel that it’s really a lost gem. So by allmeans, let’s un-lose it. Now, I want toadd some more color by including the9th, as in Fig. 2. This makes the fingeringand picking a little trickier, but includingsome hammer-ons and pull-offs helps meglide through.